Yahoo Personals’ National Singles Week Survey Reveals 94 Percent of Singles Want a Date That Can Make Them Laugh; Yahoo Launches New Dating Tools within Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo Personals.
Yahoo’s Yahoo Personals kicks off National Singles Week (September 19-25) with its second annual “Singles’ Voice” Survey of 11,000 singles. This year’s survey reveals singles have strong desire for dates that can make them laugh. With humor being the new elixir for love, Yahoo! Personals and the Improv Comedy Clubs have kicked off a nationwide “Comedy of Dating” tour for this week’s National Singles Week celebration.
Love and Laughter Go Hand-in-Hand
Yahoo Personals and the Improv are joining together to bring “Comedy of Dating” events to 18 cities across the country. Comedian Richard Jeni, five of the comics from the reality show Last Comic Standing and several other headliners will offer their views on all the quirks that come with starting new relationships while sharing a laugh about that fun-filled relationship stage known as “dating.”
Yahoo Personals users can get special deals for the “Comedy of Dating” events at Improv comedy clubs in Baltimore, Brea, Cleveland, Dallas, Hollywood, Houston, Irvine, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, Miami, Ontario, Orlando, Palm Beach, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Tampa, Tempe and Washington, D.C. A full schedule of the tour, along with Jeni’s “Top Ten Dating Do’s and Don’ts” can be found online where consumers can also enter for a chance at a luxury trip for two to Hollywood for the taping of Jeni’s HBO special in November.
And the Survey Says…
The 2004 Yahoo! Personals “Singles’ Voice” Survey of more than 11,000 singles reveals that the world of dating has dramatically shifted over the past year. Highlights include:
— Longing for Love. In 2004, 66 percent of singles admitted they are not happy being single, and nearly 80 percent admit they are “single but seriously looking.” This is quite a shift from 2003 when nearly half of all singles surveyed (51% of women and 48% of men) were happy going solo.
— Humor is a Magnet. A sense of humor is the most attractive quality according to the majority of singles (42%) surveyed. While intelligence is the second most attractive quality to men (25%), women are turned on by good manners and chivalry (27%).
— Bigger Spenders in the West. For two years running, singles on the West Coast are the most likely to spend $100 or more on a date, while singles in the rest of the country spend between $25 and $50.
— Make Me Laugh! Singles overwhelmingly agree (94%) it’s important that your significant other makes you laugh.
— Kiss & Tell. Similar to 2003, more than half (55%) of singles still say they would not smooch on the first date. However, this year, Midwesterners are the most likely to pucker up on the first date versus East Coast singles last year.
— May/December Romance Not Just For Hollywood. The majority (73%) of singles across the country say they would date someone older than themselves. How old will they go? More than 30 percent of men and 40 percent of women would date someone six to ten years older.
— Brunettes Have More Fun. Nearly half of the singles surveyed (47%) say their hair was brown when they had the most fun in their love life.
— Boxers Knock Out Briefs. When it comes to a man’s preferred undergarment style, both sexes vote for boxers (nearly 70% of single women and 55% of single men).
— Red or White Will Do. Put down the martini glass, the “sexiest drink” according to singles (43%) is a glass of wine.
New Online Dating Tools Offer Convenience, Laughs and More
Nearly 50 percent of singles say that instant messaging is the best way to virtually flirt with someone they’re interested in dating. As a result, users of the popular Yahoo!(R) Messenger service can now use the newly released Yahoo! Personals-themed IMVironment in their quest for love.
The new Yahoo! Personals IMVironment allows users to search for compatible singles, share profiles with friends and instant message about prospective dates — all within the Yahoo Messenger conversation window. In addition, the new Yahoo! Personals IMVironment in the recently launched all-new Yahoo Messenger service will also feature humorous Audibles from comedian Richard Jeni to add expressive, verbal animations to their IM conversations about potential dates. Richard Jeni Audibles include expressions such as “I just french kissed the monitor” and “See, this is what happens when you get dressed in the dark.”
In addition to the advanced integration with Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Personals is also announcing enhanced e-mail communications features for singles using its service. The new features, based on feedback from singles, are aimed at helping singles spend less time online and more time out enjoying dates. The newly designed Personals Mailbox helps singles who subscribe to quickly and conveniently manage their communications with prospective dates. The new design represents an easier and more natural way for singles to connect, communicate and start relationships online.
New Yahoo! Personals Mailbox Features:
— Singles can easily see who e-mails are from with a photo of the interested party in the inbox interface while also using flagging, sorting and quick response options to streamline their communications.
— Frequently used e-mail responses (Snippets) can be held in a clip-board format to avoid retyping common elements of correspondence as singles tell more about themselves in e-mails to their matches.
— The new set up makes it easy for even busy singles to indicate interest to all who inquire, streamlining and enhancing the use of ‘personals etiquette.’
— The new Mailbox design more accurately reflects real world conversations by grouping sent and received e-mails around possible dates and not e-mail folders.
“Our goal is for singles to not only have better quality first dates, but to have those encounters lead to more second dates as well,” said Sandra Micek, director of marketing for Yahoo Personals. “We’ve listened to our users and developed new features like the Yahoo! Personals Mailbox enhancements that help make better use of people’s time. Plus, singles now have new, playful ways to involve friends in their online dating experience with the new Yahoo Messenger IMVironment.”
Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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